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In 1550 Georg Major, a student of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon and subsequently their colleague on the Wittenberg theological faculty, published a work in which he discussed whether the church fathers and councils are capable of erring, De origine et autoritate verbi Dei [On the Origin and Authority of God's Word].1 In fact, when Major wrote this analysis, that particular issue had long since become a moot point among adherents of the Wittenberg Reformation. Against the views of the medieval Western church and in line with other reformers, Luther had maintained the fallibility of the ancient fathers and called into question the authority that had been accorded them.2 In general, the reformers expressed grave doubts regarding the authority of the "tradition," which they regarded as fundamentally resting on human institution, and they viewed Holy Scripture as the only valid norm for faith and doctrine. Nevertheless, they continued to make use of traditional medieval elements, including appropriate statements of the church fathers and decisions of church councils.
In the early sixteenth century, it was common for the Wittenberg reformers to refer to the ancient fathers, above all, in their doctrinal controversies with their Roman, Zwinglian, and "Enthusiastic" (Schwärmer) opponents regarding the Lord's Supper. After Luther died, there were also controversies among Protestants themselves regarding Christological issues and how they related to the Lord's Supper. Every single party—whether medieval or reformational, whether Lutheran, Philippist, or Calvinist—based its conviction on Matthew 28:20, John 14:16–26, and John 15:26; they all agreed that the continuous efficacy of the Holy Spirit had preserved the church in centuries past and had sustained it throughout all the assaults on its integrity.3 As such, this is one of the reasons why the reformers strove to refer to "the tradition" as they formulated their own doctrine. Their goal was to preserve the ancient, original, and thus pure doctrine and to protect it against novel teachings that were anchored neither in history nor in proper theological argument. As such, both the first and second generation of reformers regarded themselves as interpreters of tradition, while clinging to the indisputable norm of Holy Scripture as the basis for their orientation. This enabled them to ensure a correct and authentic...